Misery Loves Company
by Josephine Rayne
Summary: When Val is mugged her life becomes filled with fear and uncertainty..... VT Please Review. Completed!
1. The Devilâ€™s Arithmetic

Disclaimer: I do not own In A Heartbeat  
  
A/N: I know it's been awhile, but I'm back J, and with my first Tyler and Val story ever! I hope you like it. Anyway, without further ado…..  
  
Misery Loves Company   
  
Ch. 1- The Devil's Arithmetic  
  
It had been a long day and all Val wanted to do was go home. But, her car wasn't working, so she was forced to have to walk home from the station. Brooke, was home sick and the boys had already left. Oh, she really didn't want to walk, it was a long way to her house. Stop it, she told herself and continued to walk briskly, darting across the streets. Suddenly she felt someone behind her. She turned around slowly, only to find a gun pointed at her face. She closed her eyes in fear. Was this it? Ws her life over before it had even began?   
  
No. Her mind was one step behind reality. The guy took her purse and ran off. Val collapsed to the ground.  
  
* * *  
"Val honey are you ok?" Frank Liner said as he rushed to her sitting at the police bench in the station. But, Val just sat there, motionless. Paralyzed.   
  
"She's still in shock. One of our cops found her on the streets soon after she came too. We didn't take her to the hospital, but she seems alright." the officer replied.  
  
But, she wasn't and wouldn't be for a long time, for Val was scared. The guy who took her purse knew her name and where she lived. He had her keys, her student ID card, everything. She had looked into the robber's eyes, seen his face. Why had he let her live?  
  
Val was now a stranger in her own life.   
* * * 


	2. Life in the Shadows

A/N: All information on PTSD is from: http://www.psych.org/public_info/ptsd.cfm. Next Story: Will Tomorrow Ever Come 3: They Say You Can Never Come Home Again. Yup. I've read Devil's Aritmetic, it's great =-)  
  
Misery Loves Company  
  
Chapter Two: Life in the Shadows   
  
It was happening again.  
  
The mixtures of blues, blacks, and purples swarmed together making the streets seem more intense, more frightening. The broken street light across the street added to eerie feeling. And the steps, the deepness of it, behind her, then the barren. BANG!  
  
Val awoke suddenly, swear trickling down her face. She was having the dream-flashback- again. Every night since it happened.  
  
A month ago.  
  
A month. She repeated again to herself. Why haven't you gotten over it?   
  
It was true she hadn't, it almost consumed her entire life even. She didn't seem to car about anything or anyone. Not the squad, her friends, cheerleading, school, Tyler. All she could think about was the incident.  
  
Val sighed and looked at her clock, 3:13am. She'd never go back to sleep now, she didn't want to have the flashbacks again.  
  
"Val, honey I'm worried about you." her parents had said.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"You're not, L know what happened to you was frightening and I understood when you wanted to get all the locks changed and the alarm system, but now you are afraid of everything, Brooke accidentally spooked you and you screamed you head off."   
  
"I'm fine, leave it alone." she had snapped at them, walking away.. Walking farther and father from the life she had known.   
  
She had reenacted a scene like that with nearly everyone she cared about, not knowingly pushing them away. So far away, that now she felt like she had no one.  
  
No one.  
  
Val made her way around the house, the bathroom in particular , she knew what she wanted there, the bottle of pills, that would take all the pain away.  
***  
A/N don't worry this is not turning in to a suicide story. 


	3. Thy Will Be Done

Misery Loves Company  
  
Chapter 3: Thy Will Be Done  
***  
  
Nothing seemed real, nothing seemed right.  
  
She picked up the pills- RING!  
  
"Hello?" she asked into the telephone. "Tyler? It's 3 in the morning."  
  
"I know, but I figured you'd be up. I know you haven't been sleeping. " Tyler said. "I didn't wake anyone did I?"  
  
"No, no it's fine." she replied, and they talked for hours, Tyler still trying to desperately to reach her, unknowingly saving her.   
***  
"Val, Officer Collins called, he found the guy who roped you . He was hit by a car and they found some of you stuff in his processions." her father told her. She should have been happy, feel safe. She hadn't felt any of those things in along time.   
  
But, she didn't.  
  
She felt tired and distant, and alone and scared, so scared., and she didn't know why. And know one could help her, 'cause they didn't know either.  
***  
A/N: I know, I know. It was suppose to be T/V but unfortunately it didn't work out that way sorry guys. I hope you like this story, btw there is no sequel., let's just assume Val and Tyler got their happy ending.   
  
In this story Val as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) a disorder that most people do not know about (hence the ending of my story).. For more info check out the link above. 


End file.
